Gran Paradiso & National Park

The Gran Paradiso, at 4,061 m, is the only four-thousander lying entirely on Italian soil. The protected area surrounding it was established in 1922 as Italy's first national park, originally to save the Alpine ibex from extinction. Today the park is one of the best places in the Alps to watch ibex and chamois.

Highlights

• The only four-thousander entirely in Italy
• Oldest national park in Italy (since 1922)
• A refuge and stronghold of the Alpine ibex
• Reachable as a high tour via the Rifugio Vittorio Emanuele

Good to know

Practical info

Background & History

The Gran Paradiso is, at a good 4061 metres, the only four-thousand-metre peak lying entirely on Italian soil, and gives its name to one of the oldest national parks in Europe. Its history is closely linked with the ibex: in the 19th century this proud wild animal was almost exterminated in the Alps; in all of Europe only a few hundred animals had survived in these mountains. The House of Savoy declared the peaks around the Gran Paradiso to be its royal hunting ground and placed the last ibex under protection, by which the species was saved. From this lordly hunting ground grew, in 1922, the national park, which to this day is home to one of the most important ibex populations in the Alps.

The landscape is marked by high-Alpine severity: glaciated peaks, wide scree slopes and deeply incised valleys such as the Valnontey and the Valsavarenche, in which, besides ibex, chamois, marmots and the majestic bearded vulture can also be observed, the latter having returned to the skies above the park after a long absence. Old royal routes and hunting paths criss-cross the area and lead to mountain huts whose names, such as Vittorio Emanuele and Vittorio Sella, recall the Savoyard past. Thus the Gran Paradiso is at once a nature paradise and a living monument to an early idea of nature conservation, which from here set an example throughout Europe.